The Cure for the Anxious Mind.

What is the monkey mind? 🐒 🧠

“Buddha described the human mind as being filled with drunken monkeys, jumping around, screeching, chattering, carrying on endlessly. Fear is an especially loud monkey – screaming out all the things that could go wrong.” Source: HuffPost

When we’re caught in a loop of anxious thoughts, our amygdala goes into overdrive. Causing us to get stuck in the basement of our brains (the limbic system) where our stressful thoughts go around and around. With no end to the downward spiral in sight.

B R E A T H I N G S P A C E

The Healing Power of Nature 🍃

The impact of nature on the human spirit is so profound that a hallmark study in 1984 showed that patients who had a room with a view healed faster than patients without a view. A mere glimpse of nature was enough to enhance their resilience.

Hope 🌷

Nature shifts our thoughts. Expands our awareness. Gives us hope. Lifts us up from the basement of our brains (amygdala) to the penthouse (cerebral cortex) where all solutions are possible.

I once timed it. It’s an 18 minute drive from downtown Colorado Springs (near where I live) up Ute Pass to the nearest Colorado Wilderness. If it were not for the fact my closest friends come first, the number one reason, Andrea, that I live in this town would be it’s easy access to wilderness. The value you place on wilderness resonates with me.

Beyond that, I once read of a study done some years ago that found the amydala’s of depressed and anxious patients were firing about twice as long as healthy patients in response to the same stimuli.

Years ago, I went some months spending hours each day sitting in meditation in natural settings — such as by my favorite lake at the time. No TV, no radio for months. Just four to eight or more hours a day meditating in nature.

You know, after about two weeks, you find the flight of a single midge dramatic and fascinating. Your sense of time becomes tuned to the slowly changing colors in a sunrise. And — more to the point — you can calmly deal with anything life throws at you. Nothing makes you fearful or anxious. You can deal with anything.

It is so true about nature being a relaxing soothing ointment in our lives.
I have done staycations and even traveled to other large cities.
It doesn’t soothe my soul.
Now, I go on a vacation where I am surrounded by nature and the beauty of this wordl
and it is rejuvenating.

Thank you! I wanted to take readers on a journey from darkness to light. Helping you and me (equally) to realize that even though problems may be complex — the solutions are often simple (on repeat). The key is to take the first step. Mother Nature will heal (almost) all the rest. 🌹❤️

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Dr. Andrea Dinardo is a college professor, published author, TEDx speaker, and former school psychologist who applies positive psychology to facilitate personal growth and transformational change.
Her psychology blog and TEDx Talk (both called “Thriving Under Pressure”) were created in response to rising levels of student stress and anxiety. The purpose of both is to help students develop positive coping techniques in fun, interactive, and uplifting ways.